Hello from day 9 of 75 Hard! I have officially endured the downside of the mandatory outdoor workouts when a thunderstorm with torrential rain rolled in a few minutes into mine yesterday afternoon. It was tragically mistimed, but you know, it was actually not the worst. Granted, I could hardly see or hear my little YouTube instructor from my phone screen that was safely within the shelter of the garage while I was being soaked, but the rain and wind felt nice — certainly a refreshing change from the usual punishing sun and resulting sweat. Rite of passage, check.

Yesterday morning’s (indoor) workout was the hard one. I’ve been trying to add 5 minutes to my elliptical sprints each week, and this week’s time is 35 minutes. I got to minute 20 and the internal whining began. I coaxed and coached myself along, minute by minute, to the finish — and I got there. And now there will be no future resistance, because the jig is up, Self!

I have been slipping into the bad habit of checking the scale every day, so my challenge this week will be not to look at it again until Sunday. That seems like it should be easy compared to the rest of the challenging things I have going on these days, but it’s a real test of will for me right now!

And on that dubiously suspenseful note… ✌️